Just a little history of me without getting into too much detail. I grew up in Southern California. I've been working since I was 12 years old. I graduated from high school with high honors and went to UC Berkeley for undergrad. I'm the first person in my family to go to college. I got a full-need based scholarship including loans, but it wasn't enough so I worked the entire time, sometimes up to 50 hours a week to keep my bills paid. I studied Public Health and Integrative Biology and graduated after 5 years with my bachelor of arts.
When I first went to college I wanted to be a doctor, and took the appropriate pre-med classes, but after studying the profession, I decided I didn't want to practice medicine the way that we are taught to practice medicine in the US. I wanted to study medicine in a place where health was a right and not a privilege based on how much money you make or your job. I also had and still have an interest in midwifery, so I considered a career in midwifery or medicine or public health, but definitely outside the US, so that I could get a chance to at least learn medicine in a way that was in alignment with my values.
I discovered the program in Cuba through a friend who studied at UCLA. I went to an information session in San Jose where Dr. Carmen Landau, Dr. Wing Wu and Dr. Luther Castillo of Honduras all graduates of the program, spoke of their experiences. I was blown away!! I applied right away, took some time to save and raise some money and came down in February of 2009.
I didn't speak Spanish when I went to study in Cuba, but I'm fluent now. The program includes a 6 month Spanish immersion portion before starting medical school, which was the beginning of me learning Spanish, but I always tell people that even though I'm fluent, I'm always learning. The program overall has been an amazing, once in a lifetime experience that I can't really sum up in words. You just have to sit down with me one of these days and ask for some funny stories! I feel like that's the best way to really hear what these last 3 1/2 years have been for me and all my friends there.
I also worked/studied in South Africa for 6 months back in 2007. That was wonderful and amazing. It was one of the most positive experiences I've ever had. I really want to go back when I'm done with school.
So yea, that's my life in a nutshell!
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Fundraising Corner!
Hello Family and Friends!
This post is really because, and to be blunt about it, I need your money…again! I appreciate all of the brave souls who donated to me before I even started school, without a shread of evidence that I would finish. That took trust and confidence in me, and thanks to your investment in me and my future, I’ve been able to get through the first half of school with the original $7000 raised back in 2008-2009.
Now I need you all again. I need about $6000 to finance my last 3 years of school. This is about $2000 a year, including the airfare to and from the US once a year. I need to come home each year to complete board exams and internships each summer, which is why it is included. As most of you know, I cannot apply for financial aid so you all ARE my financial aid to get through this, and I pray that you will be kind enough to show your support with anything you can.
Without financial support I will not be able to return to Cuba to start my 4th year, and will be forced to take time off to earn funding to complete my education. I don't want to take time off, but it's a very real possiblity if I am not able to raise at the minimum the funds necessary to finance my 4th year. Seriously, anything you can
do is greatly appreciated and all proceeds will be used to continue my path to becoming a doctor.
Donations can be sent in check or money order to Nimeka Dupree, PO Box 1743, Rialto, CA 92377. I will be leaving at the end of September, so please send donations by September 20, 2012. Thank you all for helping me in my journey to change statistics and change the world by becoming a revolutionary doctor. I would not be able to do it without you!
Love and Blessings!
Meka
This post is really because, and to be blunt about it, I need your money…again! I appreciate all of the brave souls who donated to me before I even started school, without a shread of evidence that I would finish. That took trust and confidence in me, and thanks to your investment in me and my future, I’ve been able to get through the first half of school with the original $7000 raised back in 2008-2009.
Now I need you all again. I need about $6000 to finance my last 3 years of school. This is about $2000 a year, including the airfare to and from the US once a year. I need to come home each year to complete board exams and internships each summer, which is why it is included. As most of you know, I cannot apply for financial aid so you all ARE my financial aid to get through this, and I pray that you will be kind enough to show your support with anything you can.
Without financial support I will not be able to return to Cuba to start my 4th year, and will be forced to take time off to earn funding to complete my education. I don't want to take time off, but it's a very real possiblity if I am not able to raise at the minimum the funds necessary to finance my 4th year. Seriously, anything you can
do is greatly appreciated and all proceeds will be used to continue my path to becoming a doctor.
Donations can be sent in check or money order to Nimeka Dupree, PO Box 1743, Rialto, CA 92377. I will be leaving at the end of September, so please send donations by September 20, 2012. Thank you all for helping me in my journey to change statistics and change the world by becoming a revolutionary doctor. I would not be able to do it without you!
Love and Blessings!
Meka
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Hospital Salvador Allende
The hospital I work and live at in Cuba is Salvador Allende, named for the well known and respected Chilean physician and politician. It has a trauma center and is the infectious disease center of Havana. It is located right in the city, in an area known as Cerro, which is well known for being one of the poor neighborhoods in Havana.
When I first moved to Cuba, I went to visit Allende and thought it was beautiful. It was my first time in an outdoor hospital where all the wards are so open and airy. I found the landscaping amazing and wonderful, as well as the lecture hall where most classes are held. I still find it amazing a beautiful with all of the wards named for famous Latin Americans and all the natural light that penetrates each patient's room. It's nice to be in a hospital that doesn't really have that hospital feel since it's set up more like a park or a strip mall than a huge dark building filled with people sick people.
An interesting story about my hospital that I'm almost sure didn't happen anywhere else in the world is the story of Dengue. So there was an unfortunate epidemic of Dengue this year in Cuba, mostly in Havana and all the cases of Dengue were directed to my hospital, Allende. Dengue is a fever illness transmitted by mosquito bite that usually just gives people a fever and lots of aches and pains, but can complicate and in rare cases cause death. The Cuban health ministry takes matters like these seriously, and does not allow people to die from a sickness that should not normally kill people. As a result, the entire hospital shut down for 2 months with a focus on preventing deaths from Dengue and reducing the number of new cases by doing door to door epidemiological education sessions with local residents on how to prevent the mosquitoes who transmit Dengue from reproducing and searching for fever cases that may not have come to the hospital yet, but were transmitting Dengue to their families and neighbors. One thing that Cuba does really well is health promotion, and we were able to participate in that first hand this year. I was one of the students responsible for 24 hour call shifts with Dengue patients. My responsibilities were to monitor patients hospitalized with "warning signs" of complications from Dengue by checking on them every 3 hours. I worked 24 hours on and 72 hours off, which was really exhausting. I found that I really don't like waking people all day and night to check on them and ask them about their symptoms mostly because sick people don't want to be bothered every 3 hours talking about their symptoms and being examined. We got through it though and were able to drastically reduce the number of new patients hospitalized with Dengue and keep the number of deaths from Dengue to a very small number. It was an experience that reinforced for me that Cuba's health care for all policy is real. It's not just a political ploy or something they say, but they really make the health of all Cubans a priority and all health care professionals will become party of a "health army" if need be to make sure unnecessary death and debilitation is prevented.
What it feels like to study 12 hours a day...
This is my first time being so dedicated to anything in my life. I've never ever EVER, studied this much, and it's really hard. Sometimes I think I'm losing my mind or losing touch with reality because even when I'm showering, eating, sleeping, relaxing, watching TV, anything really I am thinking about medicine. I'm reviewing drug mechanisms of action, or thinking about what type of virus causes the flu, or what the translocations are for certain cancers. It's kind of sick, when you think about it.
I had to just take a few days off, and try to get medicine off of my mind because I thought I would be lost for good if I didn't. I still thought about it everyday, but much less than the usual nonstop thinking about it from 6am to 11pm, like usual.
I'm going back at it tomorrow after three days off, and hopefully I'll be able to detach and let go this time when I'm supposed to like during sleep and meals. I don't want to dream about biochemistry anymore or analyze muscle groups while I'm watching the olympics. I just want to be a normal person!
I had to just take a few days off, and try to get medicine off of my mind because I thought I would be lost for good if I didn't. I still thought about it everyday, but much less than the usual nonstop thinking about it from 6am to 11pm, like usual.
I'm going back at it tomorrow after three days off, and hopefully I'll be able to detach and let go this time when I'm supposed to like during sleep and meals. I don't want to dream about biochemistry anymore or analyze muscle groups while I'm watching the olympics. I just want to be a normal person!
Medical Students for Choice Conference
In November 2011, I was able to attend the Medical Students for Choice annual meeting. It was held in Baltimore with medical students and doctors from all over the country and the world, who believe that women should have the right to any birth control method they prefer. Many of the medical students and doctors who attended work in Obstetrics and Gynecology, but many were from other specialities and simply wanted to show their support for the organization's efforts to train and educate medical students and residents around women's health issues.
I didn't really know what to expect from the conference and was very pleasantly surprised with the outcome. A number of new legislation, statistics, and facts for providers was presented that really blew my mind. It's obvious that most restrictions on family planning or birth control disproportionately affect poor women and women of color. It's also obvious that once a woman has a child before she's ready, her ability to then complete her education or go into the career or her choice is greatly reduced. This is definitely an important issue for me, since I want to do everything I can to make sure people are able to overcome their circumstances and have all the education and success they want in life. It's sad that that has become such a serious political issue, when it's actually something really personal and private.
I feel like the most important thing I took away from the meeting was that, as a doctor, I should not restrict the options I am willing to present/provide to my patients based on my own personal beliefs, and no matter what type of medicine I practice, I will likely have female patients in the reproductive age range. It's important for us to do what's best medically, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically and financially for our patients, rather than allow our own beliefs to impede on someone's ability to get full service family planning.
I didn't really know what to expect from the conference and was very pleasantly surprised with the outcome. A number of new legislation, statistics, and facts for providers was presented that really blew my mind. It's obvious that most restrictions on family planning or birth control disproportionately affect poor women and women of color. It's also obvious that once a woman has a child before she's ready, her ability to then complete her education or go into the career or her choice is greatly reduced. This is definitely an important issue for me, since I want to do everything I can to make sure people are able to overcome their circumstances and have all the education and success they want in life. It's sad that that has become such a serious political issue, when it's actually something really personal and private.
I feel like the most important thing I took away from the meeting was that, as a doctor, I should not restrict the options I am willing to present/provide to my patients based on my own personal beliefs, and no matter what type of medicine I practice, I will likely have female patients in the reproductive age range. It's important for us to do what's best medically, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically and financially for our patients, rather than allow our own beliefs to impede on someone's ability to get full service family planning.
Another sprained ankle...
In an effort to stay fit, I decided to take up team sports, something I've never done other than Ike Dancers in high school, which was wonderfully safe and fun. I had no idea that basketball and soccer have so much contact, and that I would be disabled twice, with all the rights and benefits of disabled people in Cuba.
The first ankle sprain was the left ankle and came as a result of field soccer with the US/Belize women's soccer team, or BelUSA! I had never played soccer before, but decided to try something new. I really enjoyed the sport, but in my first game, landed an ankle sprain that took 3 weeks in a cast followed by 1 week with no cast but still 2 crutches followed by another 3 weeks with one crutch follwed by several months of physical therapy to recuperate and it still isn't quite right almost 2 years later. After that I decided I would never again play team soccer, and I haven't.
In 2009 shortly after my arrival in Cuba, I was recruited to play basketball. I was taller than most women at my school and faster although not really skilled because I had never played before. Over the last 3 years, I have played, and gotten slightly better, so as a result was training to participate in a tournament between medical schools in Cuba. While practicing with some men who happened to be out playing, I was mowed down like a pancake by a fellow player and boy oh boy did I scream! I was hoping it wasn't my ankle after the very difficult recovery from the first sprain, but that was exactly what it was. So, I was back in a cast, this time for a right ankle sprain and very sad and disappointed about it. That was in April, and my ankle is almost 100% after just 4 months versus the almost year the first sprain took to heal.
Just a little bit about being in a cast in Cuba. First, all ankle sprains get casted. I know it's not like that in the US, but in Cuba they know that people will have a hard time being immobilized unless casted, so they cast everyone, and give you a doctor's note so that you can be on bedrest to avoid injuring the other ankle hopping around or reinjure the immobilized ankle. Being in a cast is something of a position of privilege because EVERYONE is always looking to be helpful in any way they can when they see you trying to get from place to place in a cast. Everyday people I thought I had never seen before would tell me "oh, can I help you down the stairs?" or "Can I help you up this ramp? Aren't you the one with the broken leg," this was after and during my time with a cast. Also, everyone tells you to take it easy and don't do anything silly! I thought this was really strange at first, but I guess people just feel it's best to avoid future accidents so they tell you to be careful. For some, this even included not going anywhere on crutches, since "crutches are dangerous."
I think the biggest issue for me being on crutches was not being able to do all the things that living in Cuba require, like taking the bus everywhere, hand washing my clothes, shopping for food, cooking for myself, flushing the toilet with a bucket, showering without any bars to support me, and just day to day things that become really difficult when you can't stand without holding two crutches, which takes your hands away, and limits the amount of weight you can carry support.
I'm really grateful for my friends who as you can see in the picture, borrowed a wheelchair for me from the hospital and pushed me everywhere I needed to go. It was really hard for them because we had to leave to go everywhere really early and be sure to return the wheelchair on a daily basis because the patients at the hospital needed it. They also cooked for me, shopped for me, helped me bathe, and pretty much anything else I needed most of the time without me even having to ask. In fact, they outright insisted on helping. I can't thank them enough because without them, I don't know how I would have done it.
However, after 2 weeks of not being able to go anywhere or do anything because I was in a cast, I was hoping to have it taken off in the orthopedics clinic. When I went to my appointment, the doctor thought it best I wait another week to take the cast off, but I couldn't. I went ahead and took the cast off myself with some tools from my tool kit. I know I should have listened to the doctor, but I felt it best to follow what my body was telling me, and felt that he should have listened to what I the patient, was telling him, which was that my ankle was ready to bear weight and start physical therapy.
With the cast off, I had a lot of pain still, especially after long days in the hospital, but my ankle healed much faster than and with fewer complications that I had ever imagined. If anyone out there sprains an ankle, let me know because I feel like my two experiences have made me an expert at the recuperation and healing process of ankle sprains. I've learned the best things to do and what to avoid to make sure my ankles are strong, and how to avoid re-injuring.
Now, I'm left with the question of whether or not to return to team sports after my two injuries. For now, I think I'll stick to my first love, DANCE, and maybe follow in many family members footsteps and try track and field. I'm not ready for contact sports just yet...
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Going to the bay!
Just wanted to let all who are interested know that I will be in San Francisco next month (September 10-22), so please get in touch with me if you want to hang out. My mom is lending me her cell phone, so email me and get the number or email me yours. My email address is nimekadupree@gmail.com
Third year of medical school in Cuba
So, I just finished my third year of medical school in Cuba. It was definitely a transitional year in many ways. First, I went from living on a beautiful old naval base, right on the water, in rural Havana, to living in the big city! I miss the peace and quiet and cleanliness of Baracoa. Also, it was cooler, which I had always been told, but really felt when I started living in the city. I didn't think it could get much hotter in Cuba, but sure enough, the city is much warmer than the nice "cool" Baracoa weather I was used to. I actually had to buy a fan this year. I didn't use it much, but when I needed it, I NEEDED IT! Also, getting used to the different mindsets of people in the city has been an adjustment. Small town folk are just different, probably universally, not just in Cuba. Fortunately for me, lots of small town folk move to the big city, and I've made a few friends from the country who remind me of the sweet small town people I met back in Baracoa.
Second, I went from being a mostly classroom student, to having almost all of my learning come from interaction with patients in a hospital setting. I had a full year of adult internal medicine with hospitalized patients, and that was really hard for me. I'm not used to seeing so many sick people, and even though I will be a doctor, it's still not something I'm comfortable with. I cried many times for my patients, never in front of them, but just from the sheer impact of seeing people sick and dying on a regular basis. It's something I knew I would have a problem with, and I'm still not really sure how to deal with it. I guess it'll get better with time. So I'm just taking it one day at a time. I was blessed with an amazing attending physician, female, who was just like on top of things. She was super demanding, but made her students learning her number one priority and adjusted her teaching for each individual student's personality and level, which is hard to do. The group of students I was placed with was also amazing, and I'm glad we were able to get along so well the whole year. I feel like I learned exponentially more in this last year, than any other single year of my life!
My Spanish has greatly improved also over the last year from all the interactions I've had with patients. Going into third year, I was already fluent, but there's always more to learn, and the natural rhythm and flow of my Spanish as well as my vocabulary and grammar continue to grow and evolve, which is great. By the time I graduate, I'm hoping my accent will be nearly undetectable! I really need to read and write more in English though because some things are just really hard to find deep down in my mind. I know it sounds crazy because I've spoken English my whole life, but it's true that if you don't use it, you lose it! Learning languages is awesome, and I'm hoping to learn even more, taking advantage of the very affordable language classes offered in Havana. I've got three more years there, lets see if I can pick up three new languages!
Back in the States
It's always a little strange to come back to the states after being out of the country for a long period of time. There are so many things that I get accustomed to that are different here, and it always takes me a while to adjust. Like for example, I didn't turn on the hot water for the first week at least because it didn't occur to me that something would come out. I don't have hot water in Cuba and normally if you turn it on, nothing at all comes out. Also, I forgot that I could heat my food in the microwave. I usually just put things on the stove, so I didn't use the microwave for at least the first two weeks. To be honest, I didn't even see it. Funny how things don't even cross your mind when they're out of habit.
Anyways, I'm back again, and I'm happy to be here. This summer is not truly a vacation summer, which has been really rough on me. For the last year, I've been studying...and not like I usually study a few hours a day. I've been studying 6-8 hours a day everyday including Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays sometimes to get ready for my first board exam. Likewise, I've been studying 12 hours a day since I've been home isolated from all but one family member, so that I will be ready to pass my board exam next month.
This studying is torture! It really is. I don't really like to study, and this much studying and forcing of information into my head is really hard on me. But I am dedicated and steadfast and won't lose focus of my goal. Just pray for me, and I'll be out of this soon enough. Then I'll have a few weeks to talk to all of you lovely folks and have some resemblance of a vacation before I get back to start my 4th year!
Anyways, I'm back again, and I'm happy to be here. This summer is not truly a vacation summer, which has been really rough on me. For the last year, I've been studying...and not like I usually study a few hours a day. I've been studying 6-8 hours a day everyday including Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays sometimes to get ready for my first board exam. Likewise, I've been studying 12 hours a day since I've been home isolated from all but one family member, so that I will be ready to pass my board exam next month.
This studying is torture! It really is. I don't really like to study, and this much studying and forcing of information into my head is really hard on me. But I am dedicated and steadfast and won't lose focus of my goal. Just pray for me, and I'll be out of this soon enough. Then I'll have a few weeks to talk to all of you lovely folks and have some resemblance of a vacation before I get back to start my 4th year!
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